What Keeps Us Here
by Ninasaurrr
Summary: Gus and Alaska have a task. They're stuck in purgatory, a space between life and death. Why? Because they have unfinished business in the mortal realm. And it involves their old friends.
1. Prologue

**A/N - for this fic, the events of Looking for Alaska and The Fault in Our Stars are set in the same year.**

The first thing Gus saw when his eyes snapped open was the ceiling – that is, the ceiling of his hospital room, something he'd become quite accustomed to over the last week. Ever since his physical state began to rapidly deteriorate over a week ago, the staff at the hospital had demanded he be admitted immediately. At first he had resisted, but after days of tireless fighting, he had finally caved. Personally he didn't see the point in attempting to prolong his life, but after seeing the look on his mother's face, he had relented.

Almost without thinking, his right hand drifted down the side of his hospital bed, groping for the button that hailed the nurses. However, as his fingers finally found it, he paused – something was wrong. Pressing the button for pain meds had been instinctive, because the pain was always constant – except it wasn't. His head, his torso, his leg – nothing hurt. For the first time it what felt like forever…Gus felt normal. Good. Great.

He bolted upright and looked around. Second thing that wasn't right: no one was in the room with him. Not to sound egotistical or anything, but there was always someone with him, hovering over him the moment his eyes cracked open.

But not today, the very day that he felt a million times better. It was typical, really. Rolling his eyes, Gus lifted his prosthetic leg over the side of the bed and slid off, adjusting his weight as he went. Dragging the IV stand behind him, he pushed open the door to his private room and headed down the corridor towards the nurses office. As he knocked he grinned, just imagining the look on Nurse Mallory's face when she saw him up and walking – "Mr Waters you really should be in bed, I don't know how you got up but I swear I will tie you down the next time you attempt to escape!"

However, after three attempts at knocking, no one had answered. Mallory was probably asleep which was, again, typical. Why wasn't anything going right? Although, he supposed the world was not a wish granting factory.

A sharp pang, the first pain he'd felt since waking up – Hazel. Jeez, he should have texted her first thing. Abandoning the nurses, he began limping back to his room, grabbing his phone off of the bedside table. He switched it on – no texts. Three odd things. He couldn't remember the last time Hazel hadn't texted him in the morning.

_Okay? Guess who is up and walking?_

Dropping the mobile back onto the table, he limped over to the window and thrust it open. A sweet, cool breeze drifted across his face and into the room, infiltrating the heavy musk of days-old air. He'd never been so glad to feel alive.

"Alive." The word felt strange in his mouth, foreign. Something was off and he couldn't quite place his finger on it. Shaking his head, Gus gazed out at the view around Memorial Hospital. Everything seemed as it should be – cars in the car park, row upon row of generic-looking houses spanning for miles, a sparse collection of withered trees…but something. Something wasn't right.

"I'm going to the roof," he announced, even though no one was in the room to hear him. The first time he'd been at Memorial – the time when he had possession of both of his legs – the roof had become his solace. The bit that was accessible wasn't anything special, simply a fifteen by fifteen foot square slab of grey concrete. But there was something so simple about the place, something so secluded and unprejudiced that he couldn't help but be drawn to it. The roof didn't care whether you were dying from cancer. The roof was impartial.

The moment the door opened, the same breeze from his room hit him, lifting his hair away from his face and his hospital gown away from his body. It was so good to be out.

However, he was not alone. Perched on the edge of the roof, a cigarette dangling from between her fingertips, was a girl. As the wind blew the door shut behind him, she turned around, blonde hair flying. Laying her eyes upon him, a small smirk played at the corners of her lips. She raised an eyebrow.

"Got a light, lover boy?"


	2. Chapter 1 - Alaska

There are several things you need to know about me.

One – my name is Alaska Young.

Two – I am sixteen years old

Three – I have been sixteen for a while. No, I am not a vampire, jeez. Why does everyone jump to that conclusion? Bloody sparkly vampires. Here's another way to phrase my third point: I'm dead.

I didn't believe it at first. One moment there was a police car, the next I was speeding down a deserted road screaming my head off at the prospect of crashing into – nothing. And when I say nothing, I'm not just speaking about the car. When I say nothing, I mean the entire road, which had been very busy just moments before, was completely deserted. Of course I didn't piece together I was dead immediately. It actually took quite a few days, which is just slightly embarrassing. But hey, I went into shock, alright? Everyone is so freakin' judgemental these days. Whatever.

Anyway, as I was saying, I am dead. Everyone here is dead. No one exactly knows where here is, but I kind of think of it as purgatory. We're dead but we're not _dead_ dead. We're not…"at rest", shall we say. We're here for a reason, and most of us have no clue what that reason is, just that it has something to do with the people we left behind – the people who are still alive.

I knew he was coming even before he did. The people who have been here for a while, like my mum, have developed ways of remaining connected to the people in the real world. It isn't easy, but it is possible to visit the mortal realm. I've only managed to do it twice, both times for a minute at most, because it takes extreme concentration – the kind I, um, sort of lack. But my mum, well, she's really good at it, says she had to be to keep me in check all these years. The guardians stationed at Indianapolis Memorial Hospital said he didn't have much longer, so I was sent over there immediately. Immediately as in I was shoved into a car and made to take the nine hour journey all on my lonesome. Good times. I didn't mind too much though, as before I'd left, I'd been given a file on him. Augustus Waters; seventeen years old and an ex-basketball player. Did I mention that he was a total hot rod? No? Well, he was. Shame he was all caught up over this girl called Harriet or something. The guardians had predicted that she would be the one he had unfinished business with, and I was meant to help him. Why they picked me, I have no idea.

I arrived at the hospital just in time. Straight up to the ICU, and I found him knocking on the door to the nurses office. I'd hoped the guardians had made themselves scarce. However, before he opened the door, a look of horror came over his face, and he turned around and began walking down the hallway in the opposite direction to where I was stood. Curious, I'd followed him into one of the private rooms to find him hunched over an ancient brick of a mobile phone. Impulsively he dropped the phone and marched over to the window, thrusting it open to let in a cool breeze. Good thing to because frankly, the room stank. I eyed up a bag of wee distastefully.

"I'm going to the roof." I jumped, thinking he was addressing me, but he was still gazing out of the window. The roof seemed as good a place as any. Turning around, I darted out of the room and down to the hallway, hitting the stairs two at a time. I presumed he'd use the lift considering his prosthetic leg – if I ran fast enough, I'd be able to beat him.

So that's how we ended up here – me sat on the edge of the roof with an unlit cigarette, and him, stood by the door with a look of something between surprise and mild horror. I quirked my eyebrow up, staring at him.

"Got a light, lover boy?"

For a few seconds, he seemed pretty speechless. He then took a step forward, thrusting his hand out in mid-air.

"Um, are you – are you alright over there? You may want to back up a bit, the ground, well, the ground is really very nice and I think it misses your feet-" I cut him off with a sharp laugh, swinging myself around until my feet were planted on the cement roof. I smiled.

"Better?" He visibly relaxed, an easy smile on his lips.

"Better," He took a step forward, hand still outstretched but now he turned it to the side, as if to shake mine. "Name's Augustus Waters. Most people call me Gus."

"Alaska Young." I danced onto my feet, walking over to clasp his hand in mine.

"Well hi Alaska," his face suddenly broke into a wild grin, a smile that was all teeth. I had to admit, it was kind of adorable. Well, in a puppy kind of way.

"What are you doing here?"

"On the roof?"

"Where else is here?" That grin again. I rolled my eyes, partially at his dumbass question, partially because that grin was really growing on me. I bet his Hannah had been all over that like a rash.

"I could ask you the same question," I supplied, but ploughed ahead before he could answer with another stupid query. "I'm here so I can talk to you."

"To me? What for?" I sighed, swinging myself back around until my back was towards him. I heard a shuffle, and soon his feet were dangling off the edge besides mine. I gestured towards my cigarette.

"Question still stands. Got a lighter?" He shook his head, eyeing my cigarette warily.

"I don't smoke."

"You have a packet of cigarettes on your bedside table." He looked at me.

"How do you know what's in my room?" I could see that stupid grin out of the corner of my eye.

"Not only smokers have lighters. Do you have one?"

"Nope."

"Shame, I could have done with a cigarette for this. So could you, after I've finished with you."

"Finished with me? And what exactly do you plan to do with me – wow, okay, that sounded kind of sexual. I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that, I have a girlfriend-" I waved away his flustered comments.

"Just shut up for a second, okay? I need to tell you some stuff-"

"But you don't even know-"

"Know you? Augustus, I know more about you than you'd believe. So just shut up and listen, because what I have to tell you is important, like, life-changing important. It is vital you pay attention to what I have to say next. Okay?" I stared at him for a long time, watching as the smile faded and his face grew serious. He nodded his head.

"Okay."

"Augustus," I licked my lips, staring into his eyes as I delivered the words. "You're dead."


End file.
